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Over the past 30 years I have collected GPS numbers to a lot of Ship Wrecks here in the Florida Keys and the waters surrounding the Dry Tortugas. I have personally fished and Scuba dove every one of these Wrecks and pinpointed their exact locations. No other Scuba Diving or Fishing company in the Florida Keys has 5 generations of local experience behind them, or can offer the amount of numbers and Ship Wrecks that Majestic Seas has for our clients. I hope you enjoy this brief history I have put together about theses Ship Wrecks and would love to show you how beautiful and exciting they can be to Dive.

Ship Wrecks in the Atlantic

“All lone Wreck” 75’ Steal Tug that sits in 90’ of water. Little is known about the sinking of this Wreck but is an excellent dive for Advanced Divers. The Wreck holds numerous goliath groupers and huge schools of bait fish and marine life. Visibility is usually is 60 to 100 feet.

“Capt Bills Shrimp Boat” 95’ Shrimp boat that sits in 90’ of water. She was sunk in the mid 70s and is still largely intact. Hurricane Wilma did her best to destroy this Wreck but it is still together. This is a great dive for Advanced Divers. Visibility is usually 60 to 100 feet.

“The USS Hoyt Vandenberg” commissioned into the US Navy and Air Force as a war ship, transport ship and missile tracking ship, it is now resting on sandy bottom seven miles off of Key West in 140’ of water. This ship, at 520 feet in length, is the second largest ship in the world to have been intentionally sunk for the creation of an artificial reef. This Wreck with its multilevel Decks offers Dive depths for just about every level of Diver. The Hoyt Vandenberg, has quickly become one of the favorite dive sites for visitors here in Key West. This is a great dive for Beginners and Advanced Divers. Visibility is usually 60 to 100 feet.

“Joe’s Tug” 65’ Steal tug that sits in 60’ of water. She was sunk in 1989 as an artificial Reef. Hurricane Wilma has broken up most of this Wreck but it is still a great dive. It holds huge schools of Yellow tails, bait fish and marine life. It is a great dive for Beginners and Advanced divers. Visibility is usually 60 to 100 feet.

“Cayman Salvager” 187’ Steel buoy tender that sits in 90’ of water. The super structure was removed and she was sunk as an artificial reef in 1985. The super structure was later sunk in 55’ of water in the Gulf. It also is an excellent dive in its own right. The Cayman Salvager is well known for holding some of the biggest Goliath Groupers in the Florida Keys. Some have been estimated to be over 600 lbs. The Cayman Salvager was the most popular Wreck Dive in Key West until the sinking of the Vandenberg in 2009. Visibility is usually 100’ plus. It is a great Dive for Advanced Divers.

Ship Wrecks of the Gulf

“Rubble Piles” The Rubble piles are from the old Mallory Square docks and Bridges in the keys, They were laid in big piles in the shallow waters of the Gulf to create artificial reefs in the late 80s .There are more than 30 different piles scattered within a 2 mile area. They sit in 35’ of water and are a great Dive for Beginners and Advanced Divers. They hold huge schools of bait fish, Goliath groupers, Red grouper, Hog snappers, Muttons, Cobias and tons marine life. They are well known for holding lobster and are a popular dive sites during lobster mini season because of their close location to Key West and are a great Dive for Beginners and Advanced Divers. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“Cars and Trucks” These cars and trucks were sunk a few years before they made the Rubble plies and are a great place to shoot Gag groupers and big Mangrove snappers. They don’t receive as much pressure as the Rubble piles because most people don’t know exactly where they were sunk. As a teen we used to dive them every summer using land marks to find them. Now as an adult I have marked them with GPS. They sit in 25’ of water and are a great dive for beginners and Advanced Divers. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“Cayman Salvage Super Structure” Was removed from the Cayman Salvager wreck that was sunk in the Atlantic. It was later sunk in the gulf in 55’ of water. The top of the Structure lies just 20’ under the surface. It has also been called the Super wreck. This Dive is a great place for Grouper and Lobster. It holds tons of bait fish and some times big schools of permit. It is one of my favorite Dive spots. I have probable dove this wreck more than any other ship wreck in the keys. As a teen I used to Free Dive this wreck while my cousins were Scuba diving it. Its where I first hit 55’ on a free dive, That was a day I will never forget and was a big achievement for a young teen. I was 14 years old. The next year I got my Scuba certification. This is a great wreck for Beginners and Advanced Divers. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“Gunvor Ship Wreck” 278’ Norwegian Steam ship. In 1942 she was accidentally sunk in 60’ of water by a US mine field. The ship was in route from Mobile Alabama to Trinidad with a cargo of Medicines and general supplies. The Ship Wreck was later blown up by the US to keep it from being a marine hazard. It is Still mostly intact and is a great dive for Beginners and Advanced divers. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“Bosiljka Ship Wreck” 285’ Swedish Steam ship. In 1942 she was sunk accidentally sunk in 60’ of water by the same mine field as the Gunvor. The ship was traveling from New Orleans to Key West with a medicine and building supplies. She sits about 2 ½ miles from the Gunvor and is another great dive for Beginners and Advanced divers. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“Luckenbach Ship Wreck” At 436 ’ this ship is the largest of the 4 ships that were accidentally sunk by the US mine field in 1942 The wreck is 3 miles from the Bosiljka and the Gunvor ships.. It was en route from Kingston, Jamaica to New Orleans with a cargo of huge sheets of tin, large crates of zinc and iron ore, lumber and other miscellaneous supplies when it went down. The wreck sits in 60’ of water and This ship is still in tack except for the rigging and boiler stacks that were grudged by the US Navy to keep it from being a marine hazard. This is a great ship to do multiple dives on because of its size. It’s a great dive for Beginners and Advanced Divers. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“U.S.S. Sturtevant” A 315’ US destroyer was sunk in 1942 by a US mine that had broken free from the mine field to the east. She was broken into two pieces and sits in 65’ of water. She was later used as target practice by air craft dropping bombs at the end of the war. The wreck still has the armament of 20-mm machine guns, 3 and 4 inch anti-aircraft guns on her deck. This is another great multiple Dive wreck because of it being in 2 pieces and is a very cool ship wreck to explore. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“U.S.S. Alexander” Was a 300’ long range destroyer escort. The Ship was sunk in 35’ of water as an artificial reef and dive site in 1972. The wreck was blown into two pieces and the stern section was drug 150 yards to the north in 40’ of water. The 40mm and 5 inch guns are still on the decks and it is a great wreck for free diving or scuba.This wreck is dove quite a bit but still is very exciting to see. Visibility is usually 20 to 60 feet.

“Target Ship” 110’ cargo ship that ran aground in a storm in the 1950s. The Navy used it for target practice for many years, hence the name the Target Ship. It sits in 8’ of water on the edge of the quick sands just west of the Marquesas islands and is a popular snorkel site. There are lots of different size and shape bombs scattered around this Ship Wreck and is a very interesting dive. It holds a surprisingly amount of fish for a shallow water wreck and is a great place to see Goliath groupers. They have become very tame over the years and regularly swim right up to you for a close encounter. Visibility is always good on this wreck.

“Wind Jammer Wreck” 95’ cargo ship that was run aground intentionally on the quick sands after it started taking on water. Its cargo was later salvaged and the Ship was left in 20’ of water as an artificial reef in 1968. The cargo boom still sticks high out of the water and the rest of the ship is just under the surface. This wreck doesn’t see a lot of people because it is farther out than the Target Ship. This is a very cool ship to snorkel or scuba dive. It holds numerous goliath groupers and tons of see life. Some times you will see schools of permit and cobia feeding on the bait fish that surround this wreck. Its one of the best snorkel spots you will ever dive. Visibility is always good.

“Valbanera Wreck” 400’ long Spanish passenger liner that sank in 30’ of water during a hurricane in 1919 while in route from Tampa to Havana Cuba. The ship was carrying 400 passengers and 88 crew members when she went down. There were no survivors because at that time no one new it went down or its location. Over the years the ship has been broken up into large pieces from hurricanes and storms. Its still a great Wreck to snorkel or scuba dive and hold a lot of marine life. Because of its location on the end of the quick sands the currents can some times be strong. Its best to dive it on the slack tide but is well worth the wait. Visibility is usually about 20 to 30 feet.

“Spot Back Barge” 250’ flat Barge that went down in a storm in 1978. It was traveling from the Carribean to Texas with a large load of exotic lumber other goods. One of the Sea hatches was not secure when it was hit by the storm and took on water. It sits in 115’ of water about 12 miles North of the Dry Tortugas. Its well known that this Wreck holds a lot of Goliath Groupers and huge schools of Cobia, Permit and Amberjacks. Visibility is usually 60 to 100 feet. Its only a wreck for the more experienced Divers and is not Dove very often.

“Cargo Barge” This Barge is 200’ long and sits in 110’ of water just North of the boundaries At the Dry Tortugas. The barge broke loose when it was being towed back to Tampa with shipping containers in 1982. The barge went aground on the reefs and was later emptied of its cargo and was freed from the reef. It was towed just of the edge of the reef and sank because it was unsalvageable. This Wreck is not known by a lot of people and is a great Dive for Advanced divers. It holds Huge Black groupers. The Wreck also holds huge schools of Cobia, Permit and Amberjacks. Visibility is usually 60 to 100 feet.

“Gulf Towers” The gulf towers that are scattered throughout the Gulf are Excellent Dive sites. They hold tons of Bait fish which in turn attracts a lot of other big fish. These are great stops between the scattered ship Wrecks of the gulf. Depths range from 40’ to 120’ feet. The visibility is usually 60 to 100 feet.

“Sunken Shrimp Boats” Over the years a lot of Shrimp boats have went down in the Gulf of Mexico. In the past 30 years I have collected numbers to over 40 of these Shrimp Boat Wrecks from friends and family members. They range in size from 65’ wooden boats to 120’ steal hulls. They are great places to shoot fish because the location of them are not well known to most people and they don’t see a lot of Divers. Depths range from 55’ to 110’. The visibility is usually 40 to 60’ feet.